VIDEOS: PYTHONS AND ALLIGATORS
An introduction to the Burmese python | 0:52

Burmese pythons are taking over the historic Everglades. Hunts are held regularly, but the number of snakes removed is not on pace with the rate at which the snakes are spreading. They compete with and prey on native species.
Wochit

Did you know an estimated 1.3 million alligators of every size live in all 67 counties in Florida, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission? Here are things to know about avoiding alligator-human interaction.
Oscar Santiago Torres/ Naples Daily News via Wochit

A team of researchers and wildlife biologists at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida capture an invasive Burmese python while on a tracking route across Collier County on Tuesday, March 28, 2017.
Nicole Raucheisen/Naples Daily News

It was a tense situation between a Burmese python and a Florida alligator at a golf course southeast of Naples.

The two large reptiles were wrestling on the ground at Fiddler's Creek Golf Club on Jan. 12 when they were seen by several golfers, including Dr. Richard Nadler, who was surprised by the sight as he was golfing with friends.

Nadler had never seen anything like it: an alligator, a native species in Florida, and the python, an invasive species, wrapped around each other.

A Burmese python and a Florida alligator were seen wrestling on the ground at Fiddler's Creek Golf Club in East Naples on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018.(Photo: Dr. Richard Nadler)

He took a few pictures and went on to the next hole, later posting the photos on Facebook.

" 'Wild' day on the 10th hole today! That’s an alligator and a Burmese python entwined. The alligator seems to have the upper hand," Nadler wrote on the Facebook post.

He didn’t expect to get so many emails and phone calls trying to reach him about what he saw.

"It absolutely exploded,” Nadler said.

CLOSE

A team of researchers and wildlife biologists at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida capture an invasive Burmese python while on a tracking route across Collier County on Tuesday, March 28, 2017.
Nicole Raucheisen/Naples Daily News

It’s unclear whether the python or the alligator won the fight.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Sarah Lessard said either the alligator or the python could have ended up the prey.

Conservation Commission biologists were not able to visit the site or investigate what might have been the outcome, Lessard said.

"However, we are encouraged by the prospect of a native Florida alligator consuming an invasive Burmese python," she said.

Pythons, originally from Southeast Asia, are known to exist across South Florida, and scientists say they are reducing populations of native species, especially the small mammals so many native Florida predators rely on.

Last January, for example, a Palm Beach Post reporter recorded video of another python-alligator encounter at Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee.

A Florida police officer was called to a home where a gator was laying at the front door. His body cam captured the wrestling match between them. He later released the gator back into the wild.
USA TODAY

ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES IN THE NEWS
Woman keeps giant crocodile as pet for 60 years | 1:00

An Australian woman has kept a giant crocodile as a pet for 60 years. It's all legal which will surprise you what kind of animals you can legally have here in the US. Patrick Jones (@Patrick_E_Jones) explains.
Buzz60

ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES IN THE NEWS
Alligator drags off boy at Disney Florida resort | 2:25

Authorities near Orlando, Florida are searching for a 2-year-old boy who was dragged into the water by an alligator near Disney's upscale Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. The County Sheriff says the boy's father tried to save the boy. (June 15)
AP

ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES IN THE NEWS
Monster alligator caught in Florida | 0:30

Some alligator hunters in central Florida fell just short of a record with a monster catch. Outwest Farms in Venus, near Okeechobee, posted a photo to Facebook of a nearly 15-foot-long gator killed over the weekend.
USA TODAY

A Florida woman is battling with the state over her pet alligator, Rambo. The state has rules about the space pet gators need but apparently Rambo doesn't like the outside. Patrick Jones (@Patrick_E_Jones) explains.
Buzz60

Wendy's: the home of spicy chicken nuggets, creamy baked potatoes and terrifying Florida alligators. In October, a man believed to be 23-year-old Joshua James pulled up to a Wendy's drive-thru window in Florida and threw an alligator inside.
USA TODAY

Investigators have identified the remains of a suspected burglar who was killed by an alligator. Police say it appears 22-year-old Matthew Riggins was hiding from law enforcement when the incident occurred.
VPC

ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES IN THE NEWS
Huge Alligator Released in Texas Gator Reserve | 1:04

An alligator dubbed Godzilla who tips the scales at more than 800 pounds is being taken to a gator reserve to live out its days, after being found wandering outside a Houston-area shopping center. (Nov. 9)
AP

ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES IN THE NEWS
800-Pound Alligator Found in Shopping Center | 1:14

An alligator dubbed "Godzilla" and tipping the scales at more than 800 pounds is being taken to a gator reserve to live out its days, after being found wandering outside a Houston-area shopping center. (Nov. 9)
AP

ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES IN THE NEWS
Massive Alligator Spotted at Florida Golf Club | 1:08

The Myakka Pines Golf Club has a lot of animal visitors and most recently, photos of a gigantic alligator are sweeping the Internet. Gillian Pensavalle (@GillianWithaG) tells you that this is a common occurrence.
Buzz60

ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES IN THE NEWS
Man shocked to find alligator in backyard pond | 1:51

A Maryland man couldn't believe it when he found an alligator in his backyard pond. Animal control couldn't either; it was the first three-foot gator they have seen in the area in the past 18 years.
VPC

ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES IN THE NEWS
6-foot alligator jumps into canoe and bites woman | 1:11

A woman visiting Florida from Ohio got a little more than she bargained for while on a canoe trip. The 20-year-old was bitten on the thigh and calf, and was hospitalized, after a 6-foot alligator jumped into her canoe.
VPC

ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES IN THE NEWS
Crocodile found slithering around shopping center | 1:34

Police in Roseville, California responded to an unusual call on Wednesday morning: a crocodile was spotted in a local shopping center. To continue the wild animal sightings, a mountain lion was spotted in a nearby town that very same day.
VPC

Walter Bushmann thought he caught a catfish when this gator chomped down on his fishing line at a neighborhood pond in Missouri. A local wildlife official says it's not uncommon to see wild animals like these, even when they're illegal to own.
VPC

Close, but not too close. One of Florida's oldest attractions, the Alligator Farm in St Augustine, has added ziplining to give tourists a whole new way to experience wild gators and crocodiles. It's ziplining with an extra zing. (Nov. 27)
AP

Bino's back was killing him. He was suffering from scoliosis. He couldn't move his legs, two of them anyway, and his tail just wouldn't swish. What's an albino alligator in that sort of health bind to do? Acupuncture, of course. (Aug. 28)
AP

ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES IN THE NEWS
Gator learning to move with prosthetic tail | 1:45

An alligator in Phoenix is learning to walk and swim with its new prosthetic tail. The Phoenix Herpetological Society says the CORE institute and researchers at Midwestern University worked together to develop the fake tail. (March 12)
AP

ALLIGATORS AND CROCODILES IN THE NEWS
Police hunt for thousands of runaway crocs | 0:51

South Africa farmers are asking police to join the hunt for as many as 10,000 crocodiles on the loose after escaping from a farm during floods. The crocadiles are believed to have been washed into one of southern Africa's rivers.
VPC